


Best Friend, Hold Me Tight

by chuwuyas



Series: Thiam Week 2017 [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, But it's not on purpose, Friends to Lovers, Gabe is amazing, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I love Gabe and Nolan's relationship, I originally wrote this for the Thiam Week and here I am posting this shit literally one month later, Kissing in the Rain, Liam is a Little Shit, Light Angst, M/M, Thiam Week 2017, don't blame me I was too lazy to translate it to English
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 06:39:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12625356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuwuyas/pseuds/chuwuyas
Summary: Theo Raeken and Liam Dunbar are and have always been best friends. But best friends shouldn't look at each other like that.Day 4 of the Thiam Week 2017: Friends to Lovers. (yes, one month later)





	Best Friend, Hold Me Tight

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I know that the Thiam Week ended literally one month ago, I actually WROTE this one month ago, but I wrote this shit in Portuguese (my first language) and my big useless ass was too lazy to traslate it into English. But better late than never, huh? I really enjoyed written it, so I hope everyone like it as much as I did.
> 
> P.S: As I said, English isn't my first language, so I already apologize if there's something written wrong.
> 
> Enjoy it!

Liam Dunbar and Theo Raeken met when they were 5 and 6, respectively.

The little five-year-old Liam was playing with a ball in front of his house when the big red truck that brought changes stopped across the street. He stopped playing and watched curiously as a gray car pulled up just behind the truck and a little boy with wavy hair jumped off from it, running happily to where Liam was.

"Hi, I'm Theo Raeken!" The little boy said with a smile, missing a tooth right in front of his smile. "I'm your new neighbor!"

Liam didn't know what that word meant, but he smiled openly and threw his ball at Theo to play with him.

Their story began like this.

-x-

When Liam and Theo were 6 and 7 years old Liam had to take a trip with his family and they thought they would never see each other again.

"Please don't go." Theo said through tears as he hugged Liam strong with his plump arms. Liam was crying loudly and clutching Theo's tshirt between his fingers as he hid his face in the curvature of his neck.

"Daddy said I need to, but I don't want to." Liam replied sobbing, grimacing as he and his friend continued to hug. "Who am I going to play with if not you?"

Liam's mother watched the scene with a smile on her lips, finding the boys' friendship cute. She decided to tell Liam that they would come home in a few days on their way to the destination of the trip.

When Liam and his family returned home five days later, Liam didn't even wait for the car to stop completely before opening the door and running to Theo waiting in front of his house. They jumped into each other's arms and cried as they held each other as tightly as they could.

"Never leave me like this, Li." Theo said in the embrace, his voice trembling and tearful. He felt Liam nodding against his neck and the boy's tears wet his Spider-Man tshirt.

"Never."

After that day, Liam never left Theo behind.

-x-

The first time they traveled together was on Liam's 8th anniversary.

Theo's mother had denied it at first, but in the end she ended up letting her son go to the beach with Liam's family to celebrate his birthday. It would be a short trip, after all. Only 3 days. Theo and Liam didn't talked about anything else for the entire week until the day of the trip finally arrived, on Friday morning.

Even before daylight, Theo was already upright and fully electric, sitting on the couch next to his suitcase and swinging his legs as he waited impatiently for the time to go to Liam's house. He had never visited the beach before, so he was dying of curiosity and anxiety.

And he was also happy to be able to spend three whole days with Liam.

"Alright, Theo. Don't forget to wear sunscreen while you're in the sun and don't go to bed too late." His mother had crouched down in front of him and stared at him hard. "Respect Liam's parents and don't make a mess."

Theo rolled his eyes before snorting. "I know, I know. Can we go now?"

His mother smiled softly before handing him his backpack."Yes, dear. Come on."

Theo celebrated with a scream, standing quickly and pulling his Spider-Man suitcase to the door. His mother opened the door and he wasted no time before running off to Liam, who was already waiting for him in front of his parents' car.

"Happy birthday, Li!" Theo said with a grin hugging his friend tightly before they got into the backseat and Liam's father fastened their belts. "We're going to have so much fun."

Liam smiled, holding his friend's hand. "Yes, we are."

The trip took about four hours, making the boys sleep on each other's shoulders on the way. Liam's mother woke them up a few minutes before arriving at the hotel they would be staying, causing the boys to squeal with electric, anxious shouts. They didn't stop smiling for a single second, watching the sea in wonder and with their eyes shining.

They swimmed in the hotel's pool for a few hours before finally going to the beach, shouting happily as they felt the sand between their little toes for the first time. They played in the sea for hours, buried the other in the sand, and made sandcastles only to break them down. During the night they went to a pizzeria that had a children's play area, running there and letting Liam's parents have privacy for a few moments. That night, back at the hotel, they watched children's tv shows for a few hours before they slept together for the first time, holding hands and with their foreheads glued together. They repeated this routine for the next two days, crying and throwing themselves in the sand when Sunday's end came and they had to say goodbye to the beach to return to their home.

Theo still says that this had been the best trip of his life.

-x-

Liam's first kiss had been at age 12, and _of course_ Theo had been the first one to know.

Liam was embarrassed and red-cheeked when he'd gone to Theo that afternoon. They both sat in Theo's bedroom playing video game for a few hours before Liam finally resolved to speak, leaving his controller aside before taking a deep breath: "Theo, something happened."

Theo frowned at him. "What happened?"

Liam took another deep breath before answering in a low voice:

"I kissed a girl."

Slowly, Theo tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, asking Liam to continue his story. He eventually discovered that the name of the girl that Liam had kissed was Emma and she wasone year older than Liam, being in two of Theo's classes. She was a tall red-haired girl with green eyes who sat in front of the room, almost always reading a book or drawing in her notebook; she was very pretty and intelligent, which almost instantly attracted Liam's attention. He had talked to her for a few minutes before kissing her against the wall in front of the school.

During the story, he told Theo that Emma was a good kisser and was the dream girl of anyone. Theo frowned, trying to understand Liam's point of view. He had already had his first kiss about seven months ago, but it had been with a _boy_. He had never found girls really attractive and had never wanted to kiss them, although he recognized that there were pretty girls in his school. For him, the boys looked immensely more interesting than the girls, and he had never really understood why.

It took him a few years to finally understand.

-x-

Theo was involved in his first fight at 15, and the reason for the fight had been Liam.

A kid of the senior year was teasing Liam saying that he was too small, and that annoyed Theo deeply. He remembers perfectly when he gave the first punch in the taller boy's face, immediately taking a lot of blood from his nose.

In a second there was a circle of curious teenagers surrounding Theo and the third-year boy -a tall blond boy named Noah- trying to see the fight and encouraging them. Theo looked around uncomfortably at the amount of people, but then turned his attention to Noah and punched his face again.

Noah stumbled back and his friends kept him from falling to the ground, laughing as they shoved him back to Theo. He stood up in a second, clutching at Theo's shirt and punching him three times in a row before throwing him hard on the floor.

"Is it really worth getting involved in a fight with me to defend your little boyfriend, Theodore?" Noah had said wryly with an angry laugh, making his friends and the rest of the people laugh. Theo spat his blood on the floor and stood up again, raising his fists in front of his body.

He smiled defiantly. "Is that all you got, bitch? My grandmother punches harder than you, and she's dead."

A wave of taunts swept over the wheel, making Theo smile with bloody teeth, and Noah furiously cracking his jaw. Noah moved to punch Theo's face again, but Theo had been quicker and had held Noah's right fist in the air as he used his own right fist to punch the boy's chin harder. At the corner of the wheel, Liam stared at the fight with wide eyes.

"Don't mess with my friends!" Theo screamed furiously, punching Noah again and kicking his balls. Noah let out a sour moan and his friends held Theo by the arms, keeping him still as Noah recovered the posture and approached furious of Theo, giving several successive punches in his stomach.

Noah's friends dropped Theo in the floor and kicked him several times in the stomach, causing the boy to shrink into a fetal position and hug his head to protect himself. Liam moved to go to Theo, but people held him by the chest and kept him from approaching.

"Stop it! You're killing him!" Liam screamed desperately with tears in his eyes as he tried to break free, but people just laughed and kept kicking Theo on the floor.

Then the headmaster appeared, and they finally stopped beating Theo.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?!" He had said furiously as he approached the teenagers wheel. In a second they had all separated and followed in different directions, including Noah and his friends. Liam wasted no time, running to his friend crying on the floor and crouching beside him. The director looked at them apprehensively. "Are you okay, boy?"

Even though he was completely fucked up, Theo managed to make an ironic laugh and roll his eyes. "Yes, I'm amazing."

"Go to the infirmary. And stay away from trouble." The director said before moving away, leaving Liam and Theo behind.

Liam helped Theo to sit and lean against the lockers in the hallway, still crouched beside him.

"You're an idiot." He said, and Theo smiled, showing his bloody teeth.

"I couldn't let them talk to my best friend like that."

Liam laughed and shook his head, helping Theo to his feet.

"My hero."

He was his hero.

-x-

A few months later, in that same year, Liam's mother died. And Theo was at his side to console him.

It had been sudden and unexpected. Liam's mother was fine in a second, and then she had fainted and they took her to the hospital. They did some tests on her before they came to a conclusion.

She had terminal cancer in her brain, and she had only two months of life. Liam felt the world crash around him.

He hugged his mother tightly, crying painfully as if there was no tomorrow. Even knowing she was going to die, Liam's mother had smiled softly and put a hand on her son's back to calm him down.

"It's alright, honey."

It wasn't alright.

Liam's mother had died on a cold autumn afternoon, when the cancer took over her brain and made it stop working. Liam was at school when he heard the news, immediately starting to cry when he saw the director stop in his classroom and call him with a sad expression on his face.

"No. No, no, no, no." He had whispered through tears and his body trembling. The people next to him stared at him curiously. "Please don't say what I'm thinking you're going to say."

But when the director stared at him wistfully, he knew what had happened. "I'm sorry, Liam."

Theo stormed into Liam's classroom soon after, running to where Liam was and hugging him tightly as Liam began to cry compulsively.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Theo had shouted at the headmaster, not caring about the consequences were. The director had incredibly said nothing, just lowered his head sadly.

Theo had pulled Liam to the floor, sitting in the middle of the classroom hugging his friend as he continued to cry wildly. He ran his hand through Liam's hair and stroked his back, whispering that everything would be alright. Some students were crying with Liam and Theo, while others still stared at the boys curiously wondering what could have happened to Theo simply enter in a classroom other than his own so suddenly.

The funeral had happened on the next day, in the main Beacon Hills cemetery.

Throughout the funeral Theo had stood beside Liam holding his hand and hugging him tightly close to him. When the funeral was over and the people slowly left, Liam approached in front of his mother's grave and fell to his knees, crying uncontrollably. Theo soon ducked behind the boy and hugged him tightly, bringing him close and crying with his best friend as he said that eventually everything would be alright. Seeing his best friend like that, so sad and broken, Theo felt so much more pain than he felt when he had been beaten to protect Liam a few months ago.

He didn't know what that feeling in his chest meant, but it was at that moment that he started to like Liam a little too much for them to be just friends.

-x-

**NOW.**

Theo was walking impatiently back and forth in the living room of his house, occasionally snorting and biting his thumbs. A few months ago he had begun to over-repair a certain person, and that was making him confused.

"Gabe." He called his friend sitting on the couch, but the boy didn't look up from his book to stare at him. "When did you realize you liked Nolan more than just friends?"

"I don't know." Gabe said casually, turning the page of his book. "I guess when I realized I wanted to put my dick in his ass."

Beside him, Nolan choked on his hot chocolate and smiled sheepishly. Theo frowned at Gabe with a disgust face.

"Did it have to be so direct?" Gabe smiled, still reading his book leisurely.

"Always." He said. "Who do you think you like? Tracy? Josh?" Theo wrinkled his nose and made a face of disgust again.

"Ew, no." He said, his nose wrinkled, sighing at once. "Liam."

Slowly, Gabe glanced at Theo. He closed his book and let it aside, leaning forward. "Liam?" He said with an arched eyebrow. "Like, Liam _Dunbar?_ Your _best friend?_ "

Theo rolled his eyes. "Do you think I know any other Liam? Yes, Liam Dunbar, my best friend."

Gabe smiled and took a sip of his coffee. "Oh, honey. This is going to be a problem."

Theo tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

"Liam is that typical straight guy who always makes a point of confirming his heterosexuality, doesn't he?" Gabe said putting his arm around Nolan's shoulders and bringing him closer, kissing his temple.

"Liam isn't straight." Theo said with a frown, sighing before sitting in an armchair and picking up a cup of coffee for himself. "He's bisexual. He dated Brett Talbot for 4 months."

"Oh, Brett Talbot. 6'3, light hair and eyes, abs. Lacrosse player. Liam has good taste, I would totally give it to Brett Talbot without a second thought." Gabe said dreamily, taking a punch from Nolan. He smiled kissing his boyfriend's cheek. "I'm kidding, sweetie. You know I only have eyes for your ass."

Theo frowned. "God, Gabe. You're so gay."

"Theo, honey, we're literally talking about your _gay crush_ for your best friend." Gabe said, and Theo rolled his eyes.

"Alright, let's talk about it." Nolan said uncrossing his legs, looking intently at Theo. "When did you realize you liked him?"

"I don't know." Theo sighed. "A few months ago, maybe."

"Talk about the way you feel when you're around him." Gabe said in a soft voice, and Nolan nodded at his side. They both stared at Theo in silence as he thought.

"I feel like I want to kiss him while he's talking, especially when he's talking about history, I feel like I want to hug him and stroke his hair until he sleeps, I feel like I want to hold his hand while we're walking side by side. I feel like I want to protect him and take him to romantic cliches, go to the movies, walk on the beach, introduce him to my family..." Theo said in a soft voice with a smile, looking unfocused on the floor. Gabe and Nolan stared at each other, smiling before turning back to Theo. "Shit, I like him, don't I?"

"Yes, honey, you like him." Gabe said with a smile. "That was extremely lovely. I never thought Theo Raeken could be lovely."

"Imagine when Theo and Liam date each other, we can go to triple dates with them, Mason and Corey!" Nolan said excitedly at the idea, smiling openly and making Gabe smile. Theo frowned before laughing.

"I don't think Mason likes me." He said with a grimace, and Gabe laughed.

"Now that we know you like Liam, we need to talk about what you're gonna do about it." Nolan said seriously but with a funny look.

"Just get to him and say: "Hey, let's fuck?". I bet it will work, honey." Gabe suggested with a sly smile on his lips, and Theo's eyes widened. "It worked out with Nolan and look! We're still together!"

"You and Nolan are like inseparable." Theo said. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day you two just came out wearing matching tshirts with " _I'm Nolan Fucking Holloway_ " and " _I'm Fucking Nolan Holloway_ " written on them."

Nolan choked on his saliva, coughing several times while Gabe laughed loudly and exaggeratedly. In a second Theo was laughing deeply with Gabe.

"Yeah, we're definitely gonna make tshirts like that to use at Christmas dinner at Nolan's parents' house." Gabe said after a few minutes laughing, and Theo didn't doubt that he would actually do it. "But coming back to talk about Liam, do you already know what you're gonna do?"

Theo seemed to think for a few seconds, staring at the cup of hot coffee in his hands before shrugging and leaning back against the chair.

"I'll just let it go for now. Maybe the feeling go away with time." He said in a low voice, more to himself than to Gabe and Nolan.

Gabe smiled sympathetically at his friend.

"Yes, maybe the feeling goes away."

-x-

The feeling wouldn't go away.

At that moment, sitting on an outdoor bench at school and looking at Liam talking to Mason and Corey, Theo knew that that feeling wouldn't go away. The feeling would only grow stronger and stronger, until the moment he couldn't handle it any longer. Like a bucket being filled with water. At first, the weight of the water in the bucket is tolerable, but as the bucket gets more and more filled with water the weight begins to get uncomfortable until the moment the person holding the bucket cannot handle it anymore.

What would happen when Theo couldn't handle it anymore?

He smiled involuntarily when he saw Liam laughing in the distance, probably about something Mason had told him. He lowered his gaze to his lunch, ate some fries and looked back at Liam for a few seconds before receiving a text message:

**From: Gaybe**

_Theo, my honey, your gay is showing. Stop looking at him like that x_

Theo frowned at the message and looked around for Gabe, finding him sitting against a tree with Nolan lying with his head on his lap. He showed the middle finger to his friend.

When he looked back at Liam, their eyes met and he felt his heart miss a beat. Liam smiled and waved at Theo, who waved back with a smile. Another message arrived on his phone:

**From: Gaybe**

_You really look like an idiot._

Theo rolled his eyes and glared at Gabe before answering:

**To: Gaybe**

_Fuck you._

He heard Gabe laugh at distance before he received an answer:

**From: Gaybe**

_Rude._

He smiled at the cell phone, not noticing the approach of Liam until the boy hit his shoulders and let out a scream, causing Theo to scream too. Liam laughed deeply, sitting down beside his best friend, leaning on his shoulder as he laughed.

Theo felt an electric current flow through his body until it reached the place where Liam's hand was, causing all the hairs on his body to twitch because of the contact. He laughed next to Liam, taking advantage to look at his friend without being too strange.

"You should have seen your face!" Liam said, still laughing, stop laughing only after a few minutes and smiling at Theo. "Why were you looking at me?"

Oh, _shit._

"I..." Theo started looking at his hands for a second before looking at Liam and forcing an offended expression. "You just talk to Mason and Corey lately. I'm starting to get jealous."

Liam rolled his eyes stealing fries from Theo. "That's bullshit. You're always gonna be my best friend, Theo."

_Best friend. Ouch._

"It's really good, huh? Otherwise I'll put your baby pictures online." He said with a defiant smile, ignoring the sudden bad feeling that took possession of his stomach.

"You wouldn't dare." Liam also said defiantly. "I leak your picture with Sleeping Beauty's dress and your drunk photos on last year's new year."

Theo's eyes widened. "Do you still have those photos ?! I thought we agreed to delete them!" He said shocked, staring at Liam in disbelief as the boy just smiled. "You're a little cheater, Liam Dunbar."

"I couldn't delete those photos, they are too iconic to be deleted." Liam said with a smile. "And besides, you can't complain that I've been talking to Mason and Corey a lot lately when you've just been with Gabe and Nolan."

Theo frowned. "But they are boyfriends!"

"Just like Mason and Corey." Liam said seriously, and then laughed when a thought crossed his mind. "Let's start walking all the six together, then you and I can be the third wheel together."

And there was Theo's heart missing a beat again.

 _Or we can be a couple too and go on triple dates with them_. Theo thought, feeling a sudden wish to cry.

"I'd rather watch movies with you." Theo said simply, his eyes widening briefly when he noticed that he had said it out loud. But when he saw that Liam was smiling, he relaxed.

"I would also rather watch movies with you than go out with them. Actually, I will always prefer to stay with you than go out with anyone else." He said with a smile, and the sign that announced the end of the interval rang. Liam looked up with a groan. "I have to go to class, I have English classes now. I'll see you later!" And with that he left, leaving Theo and his thoughts behind. He was smiling when he saw Liam climbing the stairs toward the English room.

_I will always prefer to stay with you than go out with anyone else._

Theo kept that phrase in his head for the rest of the day.

-x-

Everything was perfectly fine until Hayden Romero arrived in Beacon Hills.

He didn't know exactly when the girl had arrived in town, but the first day of her class had been on the first day of school after the summer break. She entered the school like a hurricane, her long hair swinging freely on her back as she walked confidently through the hallways of the college, making the boys (and some girls) look at her with drooping chins. She was definitely a girl who attracted attention to where she was going; pretty and tall, with long curly brown hair and eyes as dark as the night.

Theo watched her as she passed by him down the hall.

"Who is she?" He asked Gabe, still watching the girl until she disappeared from sight.

Gabe looked at her before she turned the hall and disappeared. "I don't know, honey." He answered without looking directly at Theo, taking some books from his locker and closing it shortly. "But she definitely has style. When I find her again I'll ask her what she put in her hair and where she bought that jacket."

Nolan turned the hallway right after Gabe finished the sentence and took a short run until he arrivied to his friends.

"Guys, did you saw that girl?" He said cheerfully as if he had been telling the greatest gossip in the world. "For a moment I felt like I was in Mean Girls. It was amazing."

Gabe laughed before pulling his boyfriend to his side and kissing him on the lips. Theo wrinkled his nose and forced a sound of vomit, causing Gabe and Nolan to roll their eyes.

Theo looked back down the hall where the girl had disappeared before he faced his friends again.

"Why do I have the feeling she'll be the new Regina George from school?"

Gabe laughed again hitting on Theo's shoulder, and Nolan smiled before saying something that made Theo's stomach chill:

"We just have to know who her Aaron Samuels will be."

-x-

 _Of course_ her Aaron Samuels would be Liam Dunbar. It seemed the world conspired against Theo.

By the time of the break, when he turned right to enter the cafeteria, the first thing his eyes caught sight of was Liam and the new girl sitting together and talking cheerfully close to each other. He rolled his eyes and moaned dramatically by whispering a "you have to be kidding me" before turning around and go look for Gabe and Nolan.

He found his friends snacking together sitting under a tree in front of the Lacrosse field, watching the training of the players. Theo rushed over to them.

"We have a problem." He said as he approached his friends enough, drawing the attention of Gabe and Nolan to himself. "I found the Aaron Samuels of the Regina George."

Gabe and Nolan stared at each other before Nolan tilted his head curiously. "And who is it?"

But when Theo didn't respond and instead of that just looked away at the Lacrosse field after rolling his eyes, Nolan knew the answer.

"No way. No, it can't be." He said shocked and wide-eyed, and Theo moaned again.

"See with your own eyes."

Two minutes later, the three boys were hiding behind a wall in the cafeteria watching Liam talk to the girl. They seemed to be enjoying the topic, since all the time the girl leaned forward as she laughed and leaned on Liam's shoulder.

"Look at this bitch's audacity." Gabe said discreetly as he watched the girl lean over and run her hand over Liam's arm.

"Don't call her a bitch, babe. You don't know her." Nolan scolded his boyfriend, but when Gabe and Theo slowly turned to face him he flinched in his sweater and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"You think I'd have trouble if I hit her?" Theo asked suggestively, still staring at the girl to talk to Liam, glaring at her.

Gabe frowned and laughed. "You can't hit her just because she's talking to your best friend who coincidentally is also the guy you like, honey."

Theo looked serious at Gabe before smiling defiantly. "Watch me, bitch."

He was still smiling as he stepped out from behind the wall and entered the cafeteria starting to walk toward Liam and the girl, but was stopped when he felt someone pull him back to behind the wall.

He was already ready to scold Gabe when he noticed that who had pulled him back from the wall was Mason Hewitt, not Gabe or Nolan.

"Mason?" He said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Mason rolled his eyes before answering. "Keeping you from doing something stupid."

Theo frowned before looking around. Corey was obviously there too, talking happily to Nolan as Gabe stared up at him, smiling with his arms folded.

Slowly he looked back at Mason before moaning dramatically.

"You know too."

"Honestly, honey, I don't know how Liam himself doesn't know yet. You literally eat it with your eyes." Gabe said with a smile, approaching Theo and slapping his head. "Don't do things like that again, you idiot."

Theo rolled his eyes, then stared back at Mason. "Who's the girl, anyway?"

"Hayden Romero." Mason replied. "She's 17 years old, a cheerleader. She came from Miami a few weeks ago with her family. She's really Liam's type, to be honest."

Gabe laid a hand on Theo's shoulder before glancing at him sympathetically.

"Now more than ever you need to tell him, sweetie."

Theo laughed wryly. "It's just a girl. It's not like Liam was going to trade me for her or anything, right? I'm still his best friend."

-x-

It was definitely as if Liam traded Theo for Hayden, and that was killing Theo little by little.

The first time Liam decided to go out with Hayden instead of Theo was on a Thursday night; Theo had called Liam to watch horror movies and eat pizza at his house because his parents had left and left him alone, but Liam had said he had already marked a movie with Hayden. Theo had been sad, but he just let it go and watched the two The Conjuring movies alone.

The next day, when he told Gabe and Nolan what had happened, the friends only stared at each other sadly before comforting Theo. He frowned, not understanding why his friends were comforting him.

The second time Liam had preferred Hayden to Theo had been at school.

Theo was waiting for Liam to leave his classroom so they could have lunch together, and when Liam left the room he looked surprised to see Theo waiting for him at the door.

"What are you doing here?" He had asked curious, and Theo had only frowned in confusion.

"Waiting for you to have lunch. We always have lunch together." He responded as if it were obvious, and a look of understanding crossed Liam's face before he nodded and checked something on his cell phone.

"I arranged to have lunch with Hayden today, I'm sorry." He said as he stepped away from Theo, leaving the other boy stunned behind.

"Oh... Right." He'd whispered to no one in particular, turning around and going to where he knew Gabe and Nolan would be. He lunched with the couple that day, wondering what he might have done wrong for Liam to prefer to stay with Hayden rather than him.

_I will always prefer to stay with you than go out with anyone else._

He repeated in his mind the phrase that Liam had said weeks ago, really beginning to believe it was a lie.

-x-

Liam preferred Hayden to Theo at least 7 more times before Theo could not take it anymore.

Whether it was to go out, have lunch, walk or even just talk, Liam had preferred Hayden to Theo. Theo tried to ignore the bad feeling in his stomach and the jealousy at first, but it began to get more and more unbearable and painful until the day Theo knew he couldn't take it anymore.

It was raining when Theo decided to tell Liam what he felt.

It was supposed to be just a normal friend's movie night at Liam's house. Gabe, Nolan, Mason and Corey were also there, sitting silently on the couch while watching the third movie of the Harry Potter session they had agreed to do. They took a short break to order pizza and go to the bathroom, causing Liam to get up from Theo's side to get something in the kitchen.

"Tell him." Gabe had suddenly told him to sit beside him, and Theo stared at him apprehensively.

"What if he rejects me?" He had answered in a whisper, making Gabe roll his eyes.

"You'll never know if you don't tell." He said, glancing quickly at Liam in the kitchen before turning back to Theo and smiling defiantly. "Tell him or I'll tell."

Theo's eyes widened. "Right, right. I'll tell him." He hastened to say, knowing that Gabe would really tell if he didn't. He stood up reluctantly, taking a deep breath and staring at his friends before heading to the kitchen. All the boys stared back at him with a smile and thumbs up to encourage him, and he would have laughed if he hadn't been so apprehensive.

He stopped at the doorframe, putting his hands in his pockets and staring at Liam typing furiously grinning at his cell phone.

"Liam, we need to talk..."

"Not now, Theo." Liam interrupted him, causing Theo to claw his jaw. "I'm talking to Hayden."

This was the last straw for Theo.

Letting out an extremely ironic laugh, he approached Liam and took the phone from his hand. "Pay attention on me."

"Theo! What the hell..." Liam exclaimed in surprise, frowning at Theo.

Theo looked at Liam for a few seconds, the boy's eyes widened in confusion and his eyebrows arched. He hesitated for a moment, letting his gaze fall to the young man's mouth for just a second before shaking his head and moving away.

"You know what? Fuck it. Nevermind. It's not worth it." He said putting the cell phone in Liam's hand roughly before turning around and going into the living room.

"Why are you acting like a bitch, Theodore?!" Liam screamed furiously, causing Theo to stop midway and crack his jaw. He slowly turned back before laughing ironically again.

"I am the one who's acting like a bitch, Liam Dunbar? Are you sure it's me?" He said equally furiously, his voice low and menacing, coming closer to Liam and standing inches away from his face. At other times Theo would be nervous about the closeness, but at the moment he only felt angry. "It wasn't me who changed my best friend to be like a puppy after a girl."

A look of understanding crossed Liam's face, and he let out a chuckle before facing Theo angrily again.

"Are you acting like that because you're _jealous_?" He said discredited, laughing ironically. "Honestly, Theodore, it's not my fault if you don't have _anyone_."

Theo felt his stomach freeze and his heart skip a beat as he heard how empty Liam's words had sounded.  _It's not my fault if you don't have anyone._ It was like a bucket of cold water being thrown right into your face.

"Why do you think don't I have anyone, Dunbar?" He said in an incredibly hard and aggressive voice, getting so close to Liam that the tips of their noses touched, and laughing ironically one last time he turned around and went back into the room.

"Theo!" Gabe called scared, already standing in the middle of the room with the other boys when Theo simply opened the door and left Liam's house like a hurricane without even caring about the violent rain that fell outside.

Gabe made mention to follow his friend, but Liam stopped him. "No! I'm going after him." He said before leaving his house and following Theo in the pouring rain. Theo was already a few feet away from Liam's house when he heard the boy call his name in the pouring rain. "Theo!"

Theo still took a few more firm steps before reluctantly pulling into place, listening to Liam slowly approach him furiously.

"What the fuck is your problem, Theodore Raeken?!" Liam screamed as soon as he got close enough, his voice filled with hate and something else Theo couldn't identify. Pity? Fault? Maybe.

Theo laughed wryly before turning on his heels and approaching menacingly Liam. "What's wrong with me, Liam? Is it serious?!"

Even with the heavy rain surrounding the boys, Theo could see clearly the furious look that Liam was directing at him. Liam was furious. And it was Theo's fault.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Theodore?! What the fuck is your problem?!"

"You wanna know what my problem is, Dunbar?!" Theo said, standing just an inch away from Liam in a trembling but harsh voice, and Liam gave him another furious glance.

"Yes! What the fuck is your problem?!" He repeated it with conviction, and Theo exploded.

"YOU! MY FUCKING PROBLEM IS YOU, LIAM!"

Silence.

If it weren't for the loud sound of the rain involving the boys, it would all be in absolute silence. Liam stared at Theo with his lips parted in shock as Theo gasped breathlessly, his whole body trembling with adrenaline.

"What... What do you mean with that?" Liam asked confused, his voice still ringing irritated. On account of the water he couldn't see, but he knew Theo was crying. Theo didn't look away from Liam's face; his long rain-soaked hair was partly covering his face and touching his shoulders, and sometimes he spat a small amount of water.

Theo was still angry when he replied:

"You're everything that goes on in my mind 24 hours a day. The first thing I think about when I wake up is you, the last thing I think about when I go to bed is you. While I drive to school it's you I'm thinking of, while walking alone on the streets is in you that I think, during the explanations of the teachers I wonder what you would be doing at that moment. The break's time is my favorite time of day because I can finally spend time with you, admiring your smile, making you laugh at my stupid jokes, or just being by your side. My day is not happy if I'm not with you, and it freaks me out. It freaks me out so fucking much, and you know why? Because we're best friends." Slowly, Theo's voice went from irritable to just confused and annoyed as he watched Liam's reactions. "We're best friends, but best friends shouldn't look at each other like that."

For the whole time Theo was talking and even after he finished speaking, Liam stayed quiet. He couldn't find words good enough to express himself. He just stood there in the rain, staring at the best friend who had just declared himself to him.

"How long?" Liam finally asked after what seemed to be hours staring at Theo's face. Theo looked away quickly, staring at his feet before replying:

"I don't know. Months, maybe."

Liam still looked at Theo with difficulty because of the heavy rain that surrounded them.

"You should have told me."

Theo sighed. "I couldn't. Even with Gabe and Nolan telling me to tell, I couldn't."

"Gabe and Nolan know?" Liam asked curiously, and Theo nodded.

"Mason and Corey too. Just you didn't knew." Theo replied slightly embarrassed. "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how. You've only been around Hayden lately, so I thought I'd better let it go."

It sounded like a click on Liam's head, as if something had just clicked into place. With an amused smile, he looked up at Theo.

"Wait a moment." He said. "Do you think Hayden and I have something?"

Theo frowned, clearly confused.

"Well, since you preferred to go out with her thanme did and you was always with her, I thought you had something." He replied still confused. "You don't have?"

Liam was laughing so loudly that not even the sound of the rain could muffle his laughter.

"God, Theo." He said with a smile. "Hayden and I met a while ago, even before school was back in. I was the first person she talked to because she already knew me, so she found it easier to talk to me than to make new friends. We ended up kissing twice, but it was just that. "

"Right..." Theo said slowly. They did not even bother with the rain anymore. "That explains why she went directly to you, but it does not explain why you chose to change me for her."

Liam twisted his jaw uncomfortably. He shifted the weight from one leg to the other. "Well, that was because I was a fearful asshole."

"I agree with the part of you being an asshole." Theo nodded to himself, then frowned. "Fearful?"

Liam nodded quickly, averting his gaze to the floor and taking a wet wick from his eyes. He took a deep breath before replying:

"If you had said you liked me before, we could have solved that a long time ago."

Theo's frown was still wrinkled. "Okay, now I'm really confused. What do you mean by that?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "I mean I was scared of what I was feeling for you, you idiot. I was scared, and there was no one to talk about it. And then Hayden came in needing a friend, and I saw there an opportunity to finally have someone to talk to. Yes, we do had a moment and we ended up kissing and that unfortunately turned me away from you, but I finally understood and accepted what I was feeling. And furthermore, Hayden is dating a guy named Michael for some weeks by now, so you had nothing to worry about."

Theo stood silently staring at Liam's face, trying to process what he had just heard. The cold was starting to bother him, but he didn't care.

"So you're saying..." Theo began. "That during all this time that we could be together, we just didn't get together because one didn't accept what he felt and the other was afraid of destroying the friendship?"

Liam seemed to think for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes, I think so."

"Why are we not kissing now? We are in the middle of the rain, is there anything more romantic than having the first kiss in the rain after a fight?"

Liam laughed before hold Theo's face with both hands.

"No, there's not."

And then they finally kissed. The butterflies in Theo's stomach exploded like fireworks, and he pulled Liam's waist closer to him as he moaned and smiled in the middle of the kiss. They kissed awkwardly, slow and fast, biting each other's lips and laughing when they finally parted their lips, but they didn't dared to move their bodies away from each other, almost as if they were afraid that it was a dream and they would suddenly wake up in the shit that was the real world. They opened their eyes reluctantly, staring at each other deeply for a few seconds before they kissed again.

They kissed for a few more minutes right there, in the middle of the street and the rain, before parting their lips again for air. When Liam opened his eyes, and even with the heavy rain wetting them, he noticed something funny.

"Theo, are you crying?"

Theo nodded in embarrassment before pulling a wet wick from Liam's face and pulling his face up to they kiss slowly again.

"I'm happy." He replied with a smile after parting their lips, making Liam laugh. "I'm kissing my best friend and the guy who I'm in love with."

"Honestly, Theo, will you keep calling me best friend even after those kisses?" Liam said with an arched eyebrow.

Theo smiled. "Right, _boyfriend_." He said, and then kissed him again.

A few feet away, from inside Liam's house and watching the scene through the room window with huge smiles on their faces, were Gabe, Nolan, Corey and Mason. "Do you know what that means, sweetie?" Gabe asked suggestively to his boyfriend, and Nolan and Corey grinned at each other before they celebrated throwing their arms up.

"Triple dates!" They both responded in unison, making Gabe and Mason laugh.

And after all, in the end everything went well.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what you think about it :)


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